Fashion's New (Old) Thing

By

Robin Kawakami

November 5, 2011

When the designers behind edgy menswear labels such as Rag & Bone and Band of Outsiders want to produce a hand-tailored suit made in New York, they rely on an octogenarian tailor who has been cutting clothes in the same East Williamsburg factory for more than 60 years.

As with so many Brooklyn-made products, one could call these artisanal suits. But to Martin Greenfield, the 83-year-old tailor, the vogue for the borough's wares is just a blip in a career that dates back to 1947, when he first came to work at the...